


k_hummel and 7 others like your picture

by klaineanummel



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, they meet online
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 06:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5655496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klaineanummel/pseuds/klaineanummel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two likes on Instagram change the course of Blaine Anderson's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	k_hummel and 7 others like your picture

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [GleePromptMeme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GleePromptMeme) collection. 



> Written for this prompt I got on tumblr: I liked your picture on instagram because I thought you were cute and I followed you. You followed me back and we started talking for a while before we began dating then we finally met each other. 
> 
> It also just so happens to work for this prompt on the Glee Prompt Meme: I would love to read a story in which Kurt and Blaine meet online, obviously become boyfriends and also meet in rl? I really don't like it if Kurt and/or Blaine have had other boyfriends, so please don't use that. Otherwise I really don't want major character death, but I think that would not happen ;)
> 
> i’ve never actually used the DM function on instagram so I literally have no idea how it works. i’m sure i got it wrong, but let’s just pretend it works the way i describe it here! also, title-wise, i think it takes more than 8 likes for it to turn into “so-and-so and number of people like this” but again, let’s just pretend :)
> 
> I hope both prompters enjoy, and sorry it took me so long to fill this!
> 
>  **NOTE** i originally posted this as a reply to the glee prompt meme directly, but it didn't show up on my author page and considered it an "anonymous" fill, so i'm trying again. sorry if this shows up on the page twice, i deleted the old one but sometimes weird things happen!
> 
> EDIT I literally cannot believe that I forgot to mention this but HUGE THANKS to mailroomorder for reading over this fic and fixing a bunch of my dumb mistakes. Thank you so much!!!

Blaine knows the only reason people follow him on Instagram is because of Cooper.

It’s reasonable, seeing as Cooper is the only reason he really got Instagram to begin with (“You could pretend to be my fan! It’ll be great for my image!”), but it’s still a little disheartening to have over ten thousand followers and only receive seven likes on a selfie.

He gets it. They aren’t following him for his selfies. They’re following him just in case he posts a picture with their favorite up-and-coming actor. _Those_ pictures always get hundreds, sometimes thousands, of likes. In fact, the picture he posted with the most likes is one of just Cooper. He knows the deal, he isn’t totally clueless.

Still. He’s been feeling really photogenic lately and he’d like to think his selfies are worth more than his Warbler friends feeling sorry for him.

He looks good in this picture, too. Or at least he thinks he does. He’s smiling at the camera, and the angle makes his jaw line look more defined than it actually is. Plus, his hair is actually cooperating for once, and the way the light hits his eyelashes make them look super long. He’s proud of this selfie, okay?

He’s captioned it _I’m cute, someone be my boyfriend_ , kind of as a joke, but also kind of because one of Cooper’s co-stars follows him and he’s always sort of nursed a crush on the guy. He knows it’s unlikely, but he kind of hopes Jeremiah will see it and take it for what it is – a very large sign announcing that he is single and very, very ready to mingle. Especially with male leads of TV shows, no matter how shitty those TV shows are.

Jeremiah doesn’t like his selfie though. Barely anybody likes his selfie. Cooper doesn’t even like his selfie.

His mom likes his selfie. It’s a bit embarrassing but he’s glad that at least she supports him.

A few of his old Warbler friends like his selfie. Sebastian likes his selfie and comments that he’ll gladly be Blaine’s boyfriend for the night, accompanied by a winky face. Thousands of miles apart and Sebastian is still trying to get into Blaine’s pants. He doesn’t know if he should be irritated or amused.

He pouts as he stares at the seven users who have liked his picture, as if by staring at it long enough the number will magically grow.

And then it does.

Blaine grins when a new notification pops up on his phone letting him know that _k_hummel_ just liked his picture on Instagram. He triple checks to make sure and, yep, the picture that _k_hummel_ just liked is his selfie. His selfie of just him, looking cute as hell, no Cooper in sight.

He may squeal a little. But just a little.

Giddy with excitement, Blaine clicks on the Instagram handle and immediately presses the ‘follow’ button at the edge of the screen. He then scrolls down to look at the user’s pictures and -

Oh.

Oh.

My.

God.

Blaine gapes as he scrolls through _k_hummel_ ’s Instagram page. Because it turns out that _k_hummel_ , who just liked Blaine’s selfie, is quite possibly the most gorgeous boy that Blaine has ever seen.

It’s like he just get more gorgeous with every picture Blaine scrolls past. It’s completely unfair.

He clicks on a couple of his favorites, and he learns from the captions and the comments that this boy’s name is Kurt. He also learns that Kurt lives in New York City and seems to attend some high end performing arts school.

He’s not sure how long he spends on this boy’s Instagram page, but it’s probably too long because the next time he looks away from his phone it’s dark out and Cooper is pulling into the driveway. Blaine knows he should close down the app and actually do some of his school work, but he can’t seem to stop staring at Kurt’s pictures.

By this point he’s gone years back, and is currently looking through pictures of Kurt as a high school student. He’s not as mind numbingly hot as he is in his more recent pictures, but he’s still adorable as hell, and Blaine is pretty sure that if he’d gone to high school with this guy he would have crushed on him big time.

He feels like such a creep by the time he reaches the very first picture that Kurt ever posted, but he can’t find it in himself to regret it. He feels like he just watched some sort of reverse movie that starts in the present and works backwards. He knows that Kurt is a year older than him, he knows that he grew up in Ohio (he saw a highway sign in one of Kurt’s selfies, captioned _Home at last!_ ), he knows that he is very interested in fashion (the large majority of his posts from when he was in high school are Outfit of the Day posts), and he knows that he is very, _very_ flexible (a strangely large amount of pictures of Kurt stretching before class).

Blaine’s pretty sure that he’s just gotten his first internet crush, because there is absolutely no denying that he is crushing on this guy. Big time.

Cooper calls him from downstairs, letting him know that he’s ordering pizza for dinner. It jolts Blaine back to reality, and he decides he really does need to do something productive with the rest of his day.

He doesn’t, of course. Because as he begins to scroll back up Kurt’s page (he just wants one last look at the newest picture he posted, okay?) he accidentally double taps on the very first picture that Kurt ever posted. A little heart appears on the picture and under it is now a proud claim that _bdanderson_ _and 23 others like this_.

His heart stops. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, _oh no_.

He drops his phone onto his bed and stares at his treacherous fingers. This isn’t happening. _This isn’t happening_.

The door to his room opens and Cooper peeks in. “Hey, did you not hear me?” Cooper says. “I’m getting pizza for dinner, what kind do you want?”

Blaine looks up at Cooper, eyes wide and hands shaking. “I fucked up Coop,” he whispers. “Oh god. I fucked up so bad.”

Cooper raises an eyebrow and heads to Blaine’s bed. Noticing Blaine’s phone is still on he picks it up and looks at it. “Hey, cute kid,” he says. Then, with a frown, “Jesus Christ, Blaine, this picture is from 2011. Did you just like this picture?”

Blaine nods. “I fucked up.”

“Shit, Blainey. You really did.”

**

Blaine turns his phone off for the rest of the night and cocoons himself in his duvet, too embarrassed to even live. Cooper comes in and drops off a plate of pizza, which Blaine munches on slowly while making plans to complete the rest of his education from this very position. Clearly he is the most embarrassing human being on the planet and he should never be allowed to leave his bedroom.

He falls asleep feeling like the absolute worst, and wakes up with a slice of pizza glued to his cheek and his alarm blaring in his ear. Apparently turning off his phone doesn’t stop it from reminding him he has things to do.

He might as well face the day, so he gets up, takes a shower, gels his hair, gets dressed, eats breakfast and…

He’s facing the day, and that means turning his phone back on.

It’s probably not a big deal. He doesn’t even _know_ Kurt _k_hummel_. He’s just some guy on the internet. A really good looking guy who follows Blaine on Instagram and noticed his selfie enough to like it, but still. Blaine’s probably never even going to meet him. He’ll probably just get the notification, unfollow Blaine for being a creep, and that’ll be the end of it.

He turns on his phone, unlocks it, and waits for his notifications to start coming in.

He has a text from his mom asking him if he’s planning on flying down to Nebraska to be with her for Christmas, or if he’s spending the holiday with his dad. He has a text from Wes telling him to stop being so desperate on Instagram and go out and actually get a boyfriend instead of posting a selfie and hoping that’ll do the trick. He has a text from his Intro to Acting seminar partner asking when a good time to meet up would be. Tina’s sent him a couple of Snapchats, and so has David. No missed calls. Overall pretty harmless.

Except for that one little notification from Instagram, sitting right at the top of his pile of notifications, informing him that _k_hummel_ sent him a direct message.

He takes in several large gulps of air and decides to get it over with, clicking on the notification and trying to calm his beating heart as the message loads.

It’s a selfie, of Kurt with an eyebrow raised, nose scrunched up in the most adorable way. He’s captioned it _should I be flattered or creeped out that you looked through my entire Instagram account?_

He looks so attractive and Blaine kind of wants to die.

Blaine considers his options.

He could pretend he didn’t see it, keep following _k_hummel_ , never like or comment on any of his pictures, and act like nothing happened.

He could unfollow _k_hummel_ so that he knows that Blaine is now so embarrassed that he wants to sink into the earth and live out the rest of his life as an earthworm.

He could reply to _k_hummel’s_ message telling him how sorry he is for being a creep and letting him know that he totally understands if he wants Blaine to unfollow him.

Or he could delete his entire Instagram account, change his name and move to Budapest. But that seems a little extreme.

“Hey squirt,” Cooper says, knocking on his door. “You need a ride to school?”

Blaine looks up at him and pouts. “You remember how I fucked up last night?”

“Obviously. I’ve been texting all my co-stars about it.”

Blaine’s pout increases. “Even Jeremiah?!”

Cooper smirks. “Especially Jeremiah.”

Blaine groans. “Great. I won’t be needing a ride to school because I’m never leaving this room ever.”

“You’ll starve.”

“I’ll eat my comforter.”

“You’ll die.”

“It’ll be a sweet release.”

Cooper rolls his eyes and sits next to Blaine on his bed. “What happened?”

“He messaged me,” Blaine passes his phone to Cooper to show him the picture. “Why couldn’t he have just ignored it like a normal person?”

Cooper doesn’t answer, and Blaine turns to see him tapping something on his phone. Blaine yelps and grabs at his phone, but Cooper holds it up so it’s out of his reach and presses down firmly one last time. “There. Problem solved.”

Blaine flops onto his bed and buries his face in his pillow. “This is the end of me, Cooper. You just killed a man.”

“Oh my god, stop being such a fucking drama queen. You theatre kids, I tell you what.”

Blaine scoffs into his pillow. “Says the TV star.”

“At least I get paid for it,” Cooper pokes his stomach. “Come on, up. I’m not letting you skip school because you embarrassed yourself in front of a boy you don’t even know.”

“A _cute_ boy.”

“Whatever. He’s still a boy you don’t know and not worth missing a midterm for.”

“I don’t have a midterm today.”

“Well. You should still go to school.”

Blaine groans but knows that Cooper is right. He’s paying a fortune to attend UCLA, the least he could do is actually, you know, attend UCLA.

“Fine. But you’re taking me out for dinner tonight.”

“Deal.”

**

He wishes he could say that he’s forgotten about _k_hummel_ , his message, and whatever response Cooper sent him (he’s been too scared to look), but honestly he’s been thinking about it all day. He’s been checking his phone every three seconds, and really hasn’t taken in a single thing all day. He might as well have just stayed in bed and wallowed in self-pity for all the good going to school has done him.

Still, Cooper is taking him out for dinner, which is pretty exciting seeing as Cooper tends to hesitate when it comes to going out. He has some illusions of grandeur, and is constantly worried about being stalked by the paparazzi. Blaine doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he really isn’t that famous yet.

Cooper chooses some hole-in-the-wall diner. He looks entirely conspicuous, wearing a baseball cap and a pair of overly large sunglasses, dressed in sweatpants and an XXL hoodie. Blaine rolls his eyes at the sight of him. If he really was as famous as he thinks he is, all he would be doing is drawing more attention to himself.

“You look ridiculous,” is what he greets him with. Cooper is leaning against the side of the restaurant, looking at Blaine over the rim of his glasses.

“Don’t want to get spotted.”

“Wrong approach,” Blaine says, heading into the diner. “I’m still mad at you, by the way.”

“About what?”

“This morning.”

Cooper chuckles. “Blaine, I just sent a silly little selfie to your crush. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not the selfie that I’m worried about as much as whatever you wrote under it.”

Cooper raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t look?”

“No, Cooper. I’m too embarrassed to even live, remember?”

“You’re a fucking drama queen is what you are,” Cooper says, ruffling Blaine’s hair and leading him to a table near the back of the diner, already changing the conversation topic.

**

Blaine is halfway through his assigned reading for tomorrow when his phone dings with a new notification. Blaine’s heart skips a beat when he sees it’s another direct message from Kurt.

He opens it, holding his breath, then releases it slowly when he sees Kurt’s face filling his screen, one eyebrow raised artfully, face slightly angled away from the camera.

_So, definitely flattered then?_

Blaine stares at the picture and the attached message for what is probably an hour, and then finally bites the bullet and scrolls up to see what Cooper sent.

It’s a selfie, of him smiling like an idiot, that says _My brother is lame and really wants to message you back but he’s too embarrassed to do it himself. PS please don’t post this picture on social media_.

Blaine blushes and sends Kurt a picture of the reading his doing, too embarrassed to show his blushing face. _Ugh. Please kill me now. I’m so sorry._

It isn’t long before Kurt has replied, this time not with a selfie but with a picture of a book as well. He’s captioned it _Did you actually want to message me? Or did your brother just send that to tease you? Also, side note: twinsies! What are you working on?_

Blaine purses his lips, trying to think of what to reply. He could end this, right now. Tell Kurt he didn’t really want to message him and that Cooper was just being his usual idiotic self. But Kurt… he scrolls up the page to the two selfies Kurt sent him and they’re just so adorable and hot and…

He sends back a selfie of him wincing at the camera.

_God, I’m so embarrassed. Even more embarrassed than before. But yes, I did want to message you back. Mainly to apologize for most likely thoroughly creeping you out. So, you know. Sorry. PS I’m working on The Penelopiad. You?_

He puts his phone aside, then proceeds to read the same sentence in his book five times, trying to take it in, before reaching for his phone and checking if Kurt has messaged him back.

He has. A cute selfie of a confused face. _Creeping me out? You didn’t creep me out. I was more confused. I mean, you’re Cooper Anderson’s brother. Why would_ you _be following me, let alone looking so far back into my Instagram? PS Nice! I did that one last year! I enjoyed it. I’m currently reading about the rise of musical theater. Some real fascinating stuff._

Blaine sends back a selfie of him pretending to wipe his brow. _Oh thank god. But really, I’m so sorry about that. It was a total accident and I feel so embarrassed about it. I was just so excited that you liked my selfie so I followed you back and then saw a picture of you and thought you were… kind of… cute. I’m sorry. I’m creeping you out again probably. Please ignore me. I’m going to go die in a hole now._

He sends it before he can stop himself.

Kurt replies within minutes. It’s another picture of his textbook. _Don’t die in a hole!!!! Who will tell me I’m cute if you do?!_

Blaine sends a picture of his own text. _Probably your super-hot boyfriend. Or boyfriends? You look like the kind of guy who has three or four guys going after him at once. Is that creepy? I’m sorry, I promise I’ll stop being creepy (you’re just really good looking, I’m so sorry)_.

He wonders if there’s a limit as to how much he can embarrass himself in front of one person. If there is he’s hoping to hit that limit pretty soon.

The reply is another picture of the textbook, though this one shows a couple of highlighters resting against the top of the book and what looks like a nice wooden desk. _I’m sorry I’m not sending you any selfies, it’s just that I’m blushing really hard and it’s not very attractive. That was really smooth, by the way. Complimenting me while at the same time checking to see if I have a boyfriend. Nicely done. And I’m really not that good looking in real life. I just know how to work my angles ;)_

Blaine purses his lips. He’s very aware of the fact that Kurt didn’t mention whether or not he has a boyfriend.

He’s blushing again, but he decides that, what the hell, he’s already embarrassed himself to the moon and back in front of Kurt. He snaps a selfie. _Here is me blushing, so now you have to send me a picture of you blushing. Fair is fair. You’re also smooth, by the way. Not telling me whether or not you have a boyfriend. You have more than one, don’t you? That’s why. You have a harem of boyfriends, all good for one thing and you’re looking to add me to your roster. I would obviously be the one who tells you how gorgeous you are every single day and boosts your ego._

He gets the reply fairly soon. Kurt is indeed blushing in the selfie, pink high on his cheekbones, a hand in his hair and a smile on his face. _Here you go. Satisfied? I’m curious about this harem of mine. Please tell me more_.

Blaine grins at the picture, takes a screenshot of it, then sends back his own, still grinning.

_You still look ridiculously good so I don’t know what you’re talking about with your angles or whatever. It seems like you’re just a naturally good looking person. Well, your harem is composed of six boys. Eric is the romantic. He takes you for long walks in the park and holds your hand and buys you flowers. James is the enigma. He treats you differently than everybody else in his life, but still always keeps you at arm’s length and you can’t help but want more. Luka is the hot foreigner who takes you out to exotic restaurants and shows you things you’ve never seen before. Caleb is the athlete, who’s always dragging you to his games and tournaments, but is the most supportive of all your boys and shows up at any event that is important to you. Jonah is the wild one. He takes you out to crazy parties and gives you the best orgasms of your life. You mainly keep him around for the sex. And then, obviously, there’s me, your sixth boy, the one you keep around for the ego boost._

There’s a bit of a lull after that, and Blaine wonders if he’s finally scared Kurt off. He reads about one page of his book, practically leaping at his phone when he gets a new notification.

It’s a picture of Kurt, hiding a smile behind his knuckles. _Has anybody ever told you that you’re ridiculous?_

Blaine laughs. He takes a picture of himself shrugging. _Maybe. Actually, quite often_.

Kurt replies with yet another picture of him hiding his smile. Blaine wants to reach through his screen and rip his hand away from his mouth. A smile like that should never be hidden.

_Well, you are. My other five boyfriends think so as well. Well, I’m not too sure about James. He’s so mysterious, always so hard to read him._

Blaine can’t help laughing at that. _I’m sure James thinks that I’m incredible and is considering leaving you for me._

The picture Kurt sends him next is of him, jaw dropped, eyes wide. _You’re BOTH leaving me?!?!! How will I survive with only four boyfriends?!?! Do you know how difficult it is to only have four boys catering to my every whim? Who will be mysterious? Who will remind me how attractive I am? I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOU TWO_.

Blaine actually laughs out loud. He takes a selfie of himself as he laughs and ignores how silly he looks. _I’m sorry Kurt, but true love is true love. James and I are very happy together and I hope that one day you will learn to accept that._

There’s another lull in the conversation which Blaine uses to once again attempt to get work done. He doesn’t succeed, and soon enough he’s back on his phone, impatiently refreshing the Instagram app to see if Kurt has replied.

Finally he does. It’s a picture of his textbook. _So we’re using names now? I didn’t want to be too creepy and call you Blaine without asking._

Blaine’s heart leaps in his chest. He sends back a picture of his face, smiling. _Can I call you Kurt? Is that okay?_

A picture of Kurt, also smiling, comes through next. _Yes, you can. Can I call you Blaine?_

Blaine sends a picture of his book. _Of course._

Another short lull. Then a picture of Kurt’s textbook. _I really should be getting some of this reading done_.

Blaine sends back another picture of his book. _Right, of course. Me too. I’ve really enjoyed talking to you though._

Kurt sends a selfie this time, smiling wider than in his last selfie. _Same. I’m really glad you accidentally liked my first Instagram picture. We’ll talk again sometime?_

Blaine sends back his own selfie. _Please never mention how we met again. But yes, we will talk soon. I look forward to it._

He doesn’t get a reply, but he doesn’t really care. He spends the next fifteen minutes looking over all the pictures and messages Kurt sent him. He holds his phone to his chest when he’s done and squeals happily.

He’s not entirely sure, but he thinks he just spent the last half hour flirting with a very cute guy. He feels like he could fly.

**

The next morning he wakes up to a direct message on Instagram from Kurt. And the next morning. And the one after that.

After five days straight of direct messaging each other non-stop, Kurt includes his Snapchat name in his message, saying they might as well stop clogging up each other’s Instagram mailboxes. Blaine adds Kurt as soon as he can, and within minutes they’re back at it, sending each other goofy selfies and telling each other everything about their days.

Blaine has honestly never felt so close to someone so soon, and it isn’t long before he is giving Kurt his phone number because they spend so much time using the text function on snapchat that, well, he might as well.

At first Blaine has Kurt in his phone as Instagram Kurt. It isn’t long, however, until Kurt Instagrams a picture of himself pouting in the ER, claiming to have sprained his ankle while doing some complicated dance move at school. After that he changes Kurt’s contact to Cutest Person Alive.

Of course, Tina looks over his shoulder one day and asks who the Cutest Person Alive is and Blaine almost dies of embarrassment, so he shortens it to _CPA_ just to avoid that happening again.

Tina’s already onto him, though, and she correctly guesses that this Cutest Person Alive must be the reason that Blaine is glued to his phone lately. Blaine blushes and tells her that he doesn’t want to jinx it by saying too much, but he’s really hoping this is going somewhere. She squeals, hugs him, and tells him that she’s happy for him and that he better tell her the second it becomes more.

The thing is, he knows he has a crush on Kurt. It’s beyond obvious. Kurt is absolutely gorgeous, he’s adorable, he’s funny, he’s witty, and he _gets_ Blaine. He gets him better than anybody ever has. Plus he has quite the flair for the dramatic, something that Blaine has always appreciated, having a bit of a dramatic streak himself.

Still, he doesn’t really just how deep he’s fallen until he posts another selfie and gets more excited about Kurt liking it than the fact that Jeremiah liked it as well.

**

It’s almost 3AM when Blaine finally saves his finalized essay draft as a PDF, ready to print out the next morning and be handed in. He glances at the digital clock on his desk and groans. He’s exhausted, but at the same time he’s completely wired from the excitement of finally having this essay _done_. It’s his last one of the semester, and all he has left to complete are a couple of in class quizzes and his final exams. He’s excited. Too excited to sleep.

He texts Kurt a simple _you up?_

There’s no reply for several minutes, which Blaine uses to browse through Instagram. Kurt posted a new selfie earlier in the night, at around eleven, of him with a couple of friends at what looks like a house party, Kurt with a red solo cup hanging from his fingertips. Blaine chews on his bottom lip when he sees it, hits the little heart at the bottom, then opens his texting app.

**_To: CPA_ ** _Never mind. Saw your Instagram post. Hope you had fun!_

He switches back to Instagram and sighs as he stares at the picture.

Kurt looks _so_ good. He’s wearing skin tight pants and a tight button up shirt, tie loose around his neck. His hair is a bit of a mess, and his eyes are slightly glazed, but he still manages to look adorable. He has one arm wrapped loosely around a taller man, who is staring down at Kurt like he’s the most amazing thing in the world. On the other side of Kurt is a dark skinned girl with an arm around Kurt’s waist and the other raising her own red solo cup high.

Blaine stares at the tall man looking at Kurt and wonders.

Kurt never did tell him if he had a boyfriend.

A notification appears at the top of his screen and he taps on it.

**_From: CPA_ ** _I did have fun, and I am up!_

Blaine chews on his bottom lip as he debates texting back. Ultimately his deep desire to always be interacting with Kurt wins out.

**_To: CPA_ ** _either you’re unnaturally amazing at texting drunk or you’ve sobered up a lot since that picture you posted_

It isn’t long before the reply comes.

**_From: CPA_ ** _I wasn’t drunk. Just a little tipsy._

**_To: CPA_ ** _yeah, sure, I totally believe you :P_

Kurt doesn’t text him back immediately, and Blaine drums his fingers on his knee, staring at their conversation until the little dots appear on the left side of the screen.

**_From: CPA_ ** _I’m going to do something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while but haven’t had the courage to, okay?_

**_From: CPA_ ** _don’t freak out._

He’s barely finished reading the messages before his phone screen is taken over by Kurt’s picture and the letters _CPA_ flashing across the screen.

He swallows thickly. Kurt is calling him. _Kurt is calling him_.

He hits the little green button and holds the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Oh, god,” a voice, _Kurt’s voice_ , says on the other end of the line, and it’s soft and high and beautiful and nothing like Blaine could have ever imagined. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you?”

“Um. I don’t know,” Blaine says, standing up and walking over to his bed. “Are you?”

“I don’t know.” Kurt takes a deep breath. “I may still be a little tipsy.”

“I see.”

“Yeah,” he can hear Kurt breathing. “Is this weird?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine says again. “I… I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Me neither,” he thinks he hears Kurt swallow. “But… I’m glad I did. I’ve wanted to call you for at least a week. Maybe more.”

“Why didn’t you?”

His question is met with silence, only interrupted by the quiet sound of Kurt breathing against the mic.

“Cowardice, I think,” is how Kurt finally replies. “I didn’t think you would want me to, so I didn’t.”

“Of course I would want you to,” Blaine crosses his legs on top of his sheet and leans his back against the wall. “We’ve been texting almost non-stop for weeks. You… You’re one of my closest friends.”

“Me too,” Kurt whispers. “But you… you’re in LA. Your brother is _Cooper Anderson_. You probably hang out with famous people all the time. I just… I don’t even know why you waste your time with me.”

Blaine shakes his head, forgetting Kurt can’t see him. “No, Kurt, I honestly don’t know why you even talked to me in the first place. I totally creeped your Instagram and then liked the very first picture you ever posted like a freaking idiot.”

“But you’re-”

“I’m nobody, Kurt,” Blaine assures. “Really. My brother is on a shitty high school drama show that barely anybody watches. He refuses to take me on set even though I’m one of the ‘barely anybody’ who watches the show, and I’ve literally never met a single famous person. A couple of them follow me on Instagram, but I’m pretty sure that Cooper went on their accounts and followed me for them just to mess with me. I’m just a dumb musical theatre major at UCLA who happens to be related to somebody on TV.”

“You’re _not_ ,” Kurt says, speaking louder than before. “You’re so great, Blaine. You’re super gorgeous, and super funny, and I honestly get along better with you than I do with anybody else. For god’s sake, we’ve never met in person and I probably talk to you more than I talk to my own roommate. You’re… you’re amazing, Blaine. You’re so amazing.”

Blaine feels himself blushing, and his lips are curving into a smile before he even realizes it.

“You’re pretty amazing, too. It’s kind of why I stalked you on Instagram in the first place.”

Kurt snorts. “Not just because I creepily liked your selfie even though I didn’t even know you?”

“Okay, sort of because you liked my selfie,” Blaine admits. “But then I went on your profile and you just took my breath away.”

“Wow,” Kurt says, and he’s the one who sounds breathless. “That’s… wow.”

Blaine glances at his digital clock and figures _fuck it_. “Kurt?”

“Yeah?”

“You never told me if you have a boyfriend or not.”

Kurt gasps quietly, and it’s music to Blaine’s ears. “I… I thought I did.”

Blaine shakes his head. “You didn’t.”

Kurt’s breathing is more laboured over the phone and Blaine wonders if it’s possible for his heart to burst out of his chest.

“I don’t,” Kurt says. “At least… not yet. I’ve got my eye on someone though.”

Blaine doesn’t know whether to be elated or heartbroken. This could become the best or worst phone call of his life in a very short period of time.

“Is it… um…”

“Yeah,” Kurt says, quiet.

Blaine’s heart soars. “That’s… me, too.”

“You want you to be your boyfriend?” Kurt asks, and Blaine can’t help but chuckle at it. It’s a quiet, nervous sound.

“No, I want… You. To be my boyfriend.”

Kurt swallows so thickly Blaine can hear it over the phone. “I live in New York.”

“I know.”

“You live in LA.”

“Yeah.”

Kurt swallows again. “Okay.”

Blaine has to bite down on his bottom lip to keep from smiling too much. “Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Blaine purses his lips to contain a shout of excitement. He may pump his fist a little bit, though. But only a little bit.

“I… I should probably go to bed. I’m still pretty worn out from tonight.”

“Right, of course,” Blaine nods, though he really wants to beg Kurt to never get off the phone with him, to just keep talking to him all night, because he never wants this night to end.

“We’ll… we can talk tomorrow?”

“I’d like that.”

“Okay,” Kurt says quietly. “I’ll text you and you can tell me if you’re free.”

“Okay,” Blaine repeats. “I guess… goodnight?”

“Goodnight.”

Neither hangs up.

“I… I really need to go to sleep,” Kurt whispers. “I don’t know why I let Elliott convince me to go out on a Thursday.”

“Yeah. I need to sleep too. I have an essay due tomorrow – or today, I suppose – at nine.”

“So we should probably hang up and go to sleep.”

“Probably.”

“So, goodnight Blaine.”

“Goodnight, Kurt.”

Blaine can’t bring himself to hang up.

“You’re going to have to pull the plug,” Blaine says. “I don’t think I can.”

“Me neither,” Kurt admits. “We could… we could just stay on the line and not talk? Just… I don’t think I can hang up yet.”

“That sounds really, really great,” Blaine says quietly.

He puts Kurt on speaker as he changes into his pajamas, listening to Kurt rustling around his own apartment and going through his own nightly routine. He keeps Kurt on speaker as he plugs in his phone to charge, climbs into bed, and burrows himself into his duvet.

It takes some time, but he finally falls asleep to the heavy, steady sound of Kurt breathing into his phone.

**

When he wakes up the next morning it’s to Kurt breathing quietly next to his ear. He smiles at his phone, at the little marker saying that he and Kurt’s conversation has been going for six hours. He keeps his phone on speaker as he prepares for the day, only hanging up when he gets on the bus heading to school.

It isn’t until around noon, as he’s sitting in the school cafeteria between classes, that Kurt texts him

**_From: CPA_ ** _So… I didn’t dream last night, right?_

Blaine grins.

**_To: CPA_ ** _Which part?_

**_From: CPA_ ** _the part where we basically agreed to be each others boyfriend in the most awkward way possible?_

**_To: CPA_ ** _nope. Didn’t dream that._

**_From: CPA_ ** _thank god._

**_From: CPA_** _I’m adding you on facebook as we speak. I actually found you a long time ago but was worried it would seem creepy if I friend requested you_.

Blaine grins at the text from Kurt, the cutest person alive, his _boyfriend_.

He goes to Kurt’s contact and changes it to Boyfriend <3

When the little notification telling him he has a friend request on facebook appears, he accepts it immediately, and then instantly changes his relationship status.

**_From: Boyfriend <3_ ** _whoa, facebook official right away_

**_To: Boyfriend <3_ ** _I want everyone to know. Is that bad?_

**_From: Boyfriend <3_ ** _no. It’s actually really sweet._

**_From: Boyfriend <3 _ ** _so I guess this is a thing now, you and me._

**_To: Boyfriend <3_ ** _I really hope so, otherwise my having your contact as ‘boyfriend <3’ might be a little strange._

**_From: Boyfriend <3_ ** _omg you weirdo. Just put it as Kurt Hummel_

**_To: Boyfriend <3_ ** _I like it better this way._

**_From: Boyfriend <3_ ** _… I guess I kinda do too._

Blaine grins and holds his phone tight to his chest. He definitely likes it better this way too.

**

If anything, Blaine is even more attached to his phone now than he was before. Tina is always teasing him about his cute long distance boyfriend, and Cooper keeps threatening to throw his phone down the toilet if he doesn’t stop interrupting dinner to text Kurt. Honestly, Blaine couldn’t care less. He has a boyfriend, an awesome boyfriend, and that boyfriend is Kurt. Absolutely nothing could bring him down.

Okay, that’s not true. It’s actually pretty soon after they make it official that he is brought down. By the stupidest thing, too.

He’s eating lunch with a few of his friends on campus, and Tina is just telling them about some guy who hit on her at a party last weekend when a couple walks past their table.

They aren’t doing anything other than hold hands, but that by itself makes Blaine’s chest ache.

He hasn’t ever held hands with Kurt. He’s never even seen Kurt in person. Hell, they haven’t even Skyped yet.

That couple gets to just walk around campus holding hands, and Blaine doesn’t get to do that. He wonders if they know how lucky they are.

“Hey, earth to Blaine,” Tina snaps her fingers in front of his face.

Blaine shakes his head to clear his mind a bit, then stands up and says, “Sorry, I’ll be right back.”

He hits Kurt’s contact before he’s even out of the cafeteria. It’s four rings before Kurt picks up.

“Hey,” Kurt greets, and Blaine can practically see the smile on his face (the smile that he’s only seen in pictures, never moving, never in front of him because Kurt is in _New York_ and why is this just hitting him now?). “What’s up?”

“This sucks,” Blaine blurts.

“What does?”

“This. Us, being so far away.”

Kurt sighs. “Oh. The distance thing.”

“It just, it didn’t really hit me until now, you know? Like I know you live in New York and I live here, I _know_ that, but I didn’t even think about what that means until – I just saw a couple holding hands and we can’t do that, Kurt. I can’t hold your hand because you’re on the other side of the freaking country. I want to hold your hand so badly, but I _can’t_ , and this _sucks_.”

Kurt is quiet for several seconds before he says, “It’s okay if you want to break up with me.”

“What?!” Blaine practically shouts the word. “How – how did you get breaking up out of that?!”

“I – The thing is, all my friends have been making fun of me all week. They keep telling me I’m being catfished, that you aren’t who you say you are, that I’m naïve for thinking a long distance relationship like ours can work. If you’re feeling the same way, if you want somebody closer-”

“No, Kurt I want _you_ closer. I don’t want to hold just anybody’s hand, I want to hold _your_ hand. I really like you.”

“I like you, too,” Kurt says. “But I don’t want to cause you any sort of heartache, so if you want to end this before it gets too serious I won’t be mad. I promise.”

Blaine feels like crying. “I don’t want to break up. If we broke up that would cause me all sorts of heartache.”

Kurt is silent again. Finally, he says, “Oh.”

“Yeah. I’m not… it’s going to be hard. I know it’s going to be hard. I already miss you like crazy, which seems so stupid because we haven’t even really met, you know? But I do, I miss you, and I want to be with you, in person, and I know we can’t, at least not yet, but I still want it. And that’s not a bad thing, because it doesn’t hurt as much as the thought of you breaking up with me does.”

“We’re in that deep already, huh?” Kurt asks, and Blaine smiles to himself, even though he can feel tears stinging at his eyes.

“I know I am,” he says quietly. “I don’t want to break up, Kurt. I’d rather miss you every day but know that I’m yours and you’re mine than be with somebody else.”

Kurt lets out a deep sigh and it sounds watery. “Is this the part where you tell me you love me even though it’s way too soon in the relationship?”

Blaine can’t help but laugh at that. “I don’t think we’re in _that_ deep yet.”

“Me neither,” Kurt agrees. “You really don’t want to break up?”

Blaine shakes his head. “I just want to hold your hand. It sucks that we can’t but, I don’t know, I guess as long as I can call you and hear your voice every time I feel this way it’ll be okay.”

“I think I can live with that,” Kurt says, and Blaine grins.

“I think I can live with that, too.”

**

That night they Skype for the first time and Blaine thinks that if he wasn’t in love before he is definitely well on his way now.

There are certain things that just don’t transfer into pictures. Like the way that Kurt gesticulates wildly with his hands when he talks about something he’s really excited about. Or how he’s probably the clumsiest person that Blaine has ever met (he trips three times on a short trip from his bedroom to the kitchen and back in search of a soda). Or how he genuinely _listens_ when Blaine talks, chin in hands, eyes fixed on Blaine through their computer screens, smiling and nodding like the story Blaine is telling is the most interesting thing he’s ever heard.

Kurt is absolutely wonderful and Blaine feels like the luckiest guy in the entire world.

**

The semester ends and Blaine flies down to Nebraska to spend Christmas with his mom. Then, on January 1st, he flies to Seattle to spend his last remaining holiday days with his dad.

He talks to Kurt every day, and introduces him to his parents over Skype. His mom loves him and promises to visit him if her job ever takes her to New York. His dad gives Kurt the ‘if you hurt my son’ speech, which balances out Kurt’s dad giving Blaine the exact same speech a few days prior.

Blaine wishes that he could fly down to Ohio, even if it’s just for a few days, just to be able to see Kurt and be with him. The problem is he made his holiday plans months ago, before he even knew Kurt, and he didn’t want to tell one of his parents (his dad, most likely) that he was cancelling on them to spend time with his boyfriend of less than two months.

It’s still a good holiday, and Cooper even manages to come out to Nebraska for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which makes their mom incredibly happy.

By the time his second semester of university is starting, Blaine feels well rested and is mostly over his disappointment at not getting to see Kurt for the holidays. Kurt assures him that it’s fine, that they’ll find a way to see each other soon. At the moment it feels like an impossible promise, but Blaine wants to make it work. He needs to make it work.

**

They have their first fight on the same day they were supposed to meet for the first time – on Blaine’s birthday.

They’d been planning this meet up for months. Since the winter semester started, basically. Blaine’s had a little countdown calendar next to his bed, which he used to cross the days off right before he went to sleep, a giddy smile on his face every time he came a day closer.

It was going to be perfect. Not only was it Blaine’s birthday, but it would also be their six month anniversary. Well, not on the same day, two days later, but Kurt would be sticking around until then. They were both going to be done with exams, and Blaine would be in Nebraska, which would make plane tickets cheaper for Kurt. Everything was planned to the last detail and it was going to be _perfect_.

That is, of course, until Kurt called Blaine two hours before he was supposed to arrive in Nebraska.

“Hey, should you be on your phone? Do you even get reception on the airplane?”

“Don’t be mad.”

Blaine froze where he’d been standing in his mom’s apartment, heart dropping to his stomach. “Why would I be mad?”

“I got a callback.”

“You… you got a callback?”

“For _Newsies_. Just chorus, but… I’m sorry, Blaine, I had to go. I had to _try_.”

“You got a callback… today.”

“It was so sudden. I thought I could do it and then make my flight, but they asked me to stay back because they liked me, and they had me learn the entire choreography for this super complex number and before I knew it… I’m sorry, Blaine, I’m so sorry.”

“You got a callback for _Newsies_ and you didn’t even call me?”

“It was so fast, I’m sorry, it just happened, and I-”

“I can’t believe this.”

“I’m really, really sorry. I’m at LaGuardia right now looking for the next flight out, but it looks like it’s not going to be-”

“Don’t bother,” Blaine spits out. “Clearly your callback for _Newsies_ is more important than us meeting in person for the first time, so why don’t you just stay in New York and wait around for the fucking _Newsies_ people to call you. Because I sure as hell won’t.”

“Blaine, come on, don’t do this. Just give me a few minutes to figure this out, I’ll be there before you know it.”

“I said don’t bother, Kurt!” He kind of wishes he could hang up more dramatically than by just pressing a button, but that’s really all he can do. He throws his phone onto the couch with a shout of frustration, then follows it, curls up in the corner, and bursts into tears.

His phone starts ringing right away, but Blaine ignores it.

It rings again, and Blaine reaches over to hit ‘decline’.

His mom comes out of her room and asks him when he wants to leave for the airport. Blaine just cries harder.

It’s the worst birthday he’s ever had.

**

He’s woken up by his phone ringing the next morning, and he’s too tired to remember to check and make sure it’s not Kurt.

Thankfully it’s just Cooper.

“Guess where I’m going to film in two weeks!”

Blaine groans. “I’m not really in the mood right now, Cooper.”

“You will be when I tell you.”

There’s a pause and Blaine groans again. “Well, tell me.”

“Jeez, sorry for wanting to be dramatic. I thought a drama queen like yourself would appreciate my efforts.”

Blaine rolls his eyes. “Where are you filming, Coop?”

“New York!”

Tears instantly spring to Blaine’s eyes.

“Did you hear me? I’m filming in New York! I could stop by mom’s for a night and then we could go together and you could hang out with Kurt. Isn’t it exciting?”

“No,” Blaine says, voice thick with unshed tears. “I think Kurt and I broke up.”

“Wait, what?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh. Well, okay. If you change your mind, or if you and Kurt suddenly un-break up…”

“I’ll give you a call.”

“Okay. Um, feel better?”

“Thanks Coop.”

He hangs up and drops his phone beside his bed. He shuts his eyes tight to stop himself from crying again.

No, he and Kurt didn’t break up, but he kind of wants to. It may be an overreaction on his part, but at the same time this is about more than just Kurt missing his flight. He knows Kurt could have caught another flight. It would have cut the trip shorter, but he could have done it. No, this is about Kurt keeping Blaine out of the loop. This is about Kurt going to a callback and not even bothering to tell Blaine about it. Not even a text to tell him he might miss his flight because of a stupid callback. He can’t even remember if Kurt told him he was auditioning for _Newsies_ , period.

He knows that Kurt’s career is important to him but… well, honestly Blaine never thought that it would come before their relationship. If this is how it’s always going to be, especially in a long distance relationship like theirs…

Blaine doesn’t know if he can do that.

**

Blaine spends about a week ignoring Kurt’s calls and texts. His mom comforts him, then tells him he’s being ridiculous, then shit talks Kurt to him, then tells him he’s being ridiculous again.

Finally she smacks Blaine upside the head and says, “Do you love this boy or not?”

Blaine shrugs. “I thought I might, soon. But if he’s-”

“None of that. You’re always telling me how driven Kurt is, how much he wants things and how he’ll do anything to get them.”

“Well yeah, but-”

“And how much you love that about him.”

“I do, but this is-”

“No but’s, mister. I’m tired of you moping around because of something you should have seen coming. He already told you that he wanted to make his flight, and he was totally willing to buy a replacement ticket and still come see you but _you_ were the one who decided to be a baby and call your whole birthday-anniversary weekend off.”

“He should have-”

“But he didn’t, and he can’t change that. _You_ , however, can change this childish behaviour. I’m sure that poor boy is going out of his mind after not hearing about you for so long. Now buck up and give him a fucking call.”

Blaine stares at her, eyes wide in shock. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard his mother swear before.

He takes a deep breath and says, “I think I can do better.”

**

He almost changes his mind over four times since he makes the call. He keeps going back in forth in his mind from _you owe him this, you’ve ignored him for almost two weeks_ to _it’s his fault, he blew you off, he should apologize, not you_.

He does text Kurt, asking to please give him some space, and that he’ll talk to him when he’s ready.

He’s still unsure as he boards the flight, but the closer he gets to New York the more he realizes that this is the right choice. He needs to show Kurt that he forgives him and that he still wants this relationship, regardless of the difficulties they are bound to continue facing, and this is the only way he really knows how to do it.

**

He piles his luggage into Cooper’s taxi, promising he will go to the hotel to pick it up if things go well, then hops in a different taxi and gives the cabbie Kurt’s address.

After he’s paid the driver and is standing in front of a rather decrepit looking building, Blaine pulls out his phone and presses Kurt’s contact for the first time in two weeks.

“Blaine?” comes Kurt’s voice. It’s rough and cautious, like he’s afraid if he says the wrong thing Blaine will change his mind and hang up.

“Hey, Kurt.”

“I – You’re talking to me.”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m ready to talk.”

“Blaine, I’m so-”

“No, just. Can I talk first?”

Kurt is quiet, which Blaine takes as a sign to go on.

“I was really hurt by what you did. It felt like you put your career above our relationship, and that… yeah. It hurt a lot.”

“I wasn’t trying to-”

“Kurt just… just let me get this out, please?”

Kurt is quiet again.

“I know it’s not what you meant,” Blaine continues. “But it’s still how I felt. I felt like you didn’t care about me, about us, and that… that maybe you didn’t want this as badly as I did. I got angry. I ignored you, which was petty and childish, and I ignored my mom and my brother’s attempts at making me feel better. It was... god, it was like when I first accidentally liked your picture, back when we first met. I crawled into my bed and swore I would never come out. That’s sort of how I’ve been these past two weeks.

“Then my mom knocked some sense into me. Kind of literally,” he scratches at the back of his head, where his mom smacked him. “She reminded me of something that I’d forgotten. That the reason I was so mad at you was also one of the many things that I love about you.”

He pushes the front door to the apartment building. Like Kurt’s roommate told him, it’s unlocked.

“It made me wonder why I was really mad at all. And while I do still wish you had called me to tell me about the callback, I realized that the reason I was mad was my own fault.” He starts to climb up the stairs, heading to the seventh floor. “ _I_ was the one who told you not to come. _I_ was the one who called the whole thing off. _I_ was the one who ruined our plans. Not you.”

“Blaine-”

“I realized you didn’t put your career above our relationship. You were still willing to spend hundreds of dollars to make up for a flight you missed. You were still going to come see me, even though your flight would have only gotten in at midnight. We would have had less time together, but you were still going to make it work.

“That’s what I want to do, Kurt. I want to make it work. I want to make _us_ work. I know it’s hard, and I know we won’t be able to really be together, in the same place, until I’m done with my undergrad, but dammit I’m willing to wait. Because you know what else I realized?”

He’s standing in front of Kurt’s door. Swallowing thickly he knocks on it.

“What?” Kurt asks. Blaine knocks again.

“Kurt.”

“What did you realize Blaine?” he sounds like he’s freaking out, like he’s expecting Blaine to say something terrible. Blaine knocks again.

“Kurt, answer the door.”

The sound of feet pattering against the floor fills his ears, and within seconds the door is being pulled open and Kurt is standing in front of him, phone still pressed to his ear, tears in his eyes.

“I realized that I love you,” Blaine says, rushing into Kurt’s arms.

Kurt’s phone presses into Blaine’s back as he pulls him incredibly close. Blaine hugs Kurt tight, as tight as he can, and then wordlessly lifts his head and crashes their lips together in a long awaited kiss.

Kurt holds him close, tears streaming down his cheeks and slipping into Blaine’s mouth, but god Blaine doesn’t even care. He’s _here_. He’s here, with Kurt, and nothing is perfect but everything is perfect and Blaine knows, he just _knows_ , that he and Kurt are going to make it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/136759819335/khummel-and-7-others-like-your-picture)


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